Sonic-Pokemon XYZ: After the Storm
by ZachaRicO
Summary: The battle for Kalos is over. Team Flare is defeated, Lysandre is dead, and Zygarde has restored the world to its natural state. With peace restored, one of the heroes of Kalos has a surprising heart-to-heart with one of his greatest enemies.


**A few things before we begin. First off: HOOOOOOOOLY CRAP, THAT WAS ONE EPIC FINALE TO THE TEAM FLARE ARC! You call this a kid's show?! No...IT'S A MOVIE. I mean, kids can probably still enjoy it, but that ending was shockingly dark for a show like this! They even showed Lysandre as his Megalith (whatever that means) was destroyed by Zygarde's Core Enforcer! They actually KILLED him! THAT'S INSANE!**

 **Sorry...I've been geeking out about it all day. Secondly...**

 **This is one of the most interesting things I've ever written. It takes place right after the end of the final episode, but it's in my continuity where Sonic and his friends also joined the battle against Team Flare. I'm not sure how I'd insert them in there, but that's not important for this oneshot.**

 **I hope that's enough context to be able to enjoy this. Besides, I've talked enough.**

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Ash Ketchum stood on the rugged terrain, watching with everyone else as the sun rose, a sight many feared they would never see again. They were smiling as the future opened up, bright and beautiful.

It was over. Lysandre was gone, thanks to the efforts of all Ash's friends, and even his enemies. Bonnie was still emotional after Squishy left with Z2, but Serena, Clemont, and Pikachu were comforting her. Alain quietly shared Mairin's joy at having Chespie back to normal. Team Rocket was leaping for joy. Sonic and his friends were also celebrating their victory, while the gym leaders, champions, and Elite Four members watched with quiet contentment.

As Ash looked around, he was surprised to see a portly figure standing by himself, staring at the sunrise with his hands folded behind his back. Dr. Eggman had, to Ash's surprise, been one of their most valuable allies against Team Flare. Were it not for his quick thinking and ingenuity, it may have been impossible to destroy the Megalith Zygarde. What's more, he was surprisingly outspoken and passionate about his anger and hatred for the now-defunct organization. As the young trainer stood there, his curiosity got the better of him, and he walked up to Sonic's nemesis.

"Eggman?" he said.

"Hm?" the doctor blinked, startled by the interruption, and glanced at him. "What is it, Ash?" he muttered as he looked back at the sunrise. He sounded slightly annoyed, but sincere all the same. Ash was surprised when he used his first name, as he was accustomed to hearing his last name instead.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Everyone else is out there celebrating our victory, yet you seem kinda quiet."

Eggman stood there a moment, then sighed. "It's something Lysandre said to me once," he murmured.

"Huh?" Ash blinked, surprised again. "Wait, you mean you met Lysandre before all this happened?"

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "He contacted me and offered me a position on what he called his executive team. He claimed that he was doing something that would benefit all of Kalos and, ultimately, the world. Back then, I was under the impression that he was just a noble businessman, not unlike you in a way, who wanted to make the world a better place. So I naturally rejected his offer and even called him a weakling who would never accomplish his goals." He shivered. "And then last night, he almost proved me wrong."

"You said it," Ash shivered. "I've met people with similar ambition before, but I've never been so afraid that maybe, just _maybe_ , they might succeed."

"Not even me, I presume?" Eggman softly glared at him.

"Er, well," Ash shrugged sheepishly, "You're up in my Top 5. Is that okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about defending yourself," the doctor rolled his eyes. "I quite agree with you, actually. Lysandre had everything in place to make his plan succeed. We, however, were fortunate enough that we could put aside our petty differences to unite and stop him."

"Petty?"

"Compared to his ambition, yes," Eggman nodded. "I must confess, I've never seen a group of people from all over the region – and even all over the _world_ – unite together to destroy such a threat. I was quite impressed."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "It was pretty awesome."

"And another thing," Eggman continued, fully turning to him. "I must commend you for how you resisted Lysandre's Mega-Evolution ray that he used to try and control you. That was absolutely incredible!"

"Really?" Ash said, eyes wide. He wasn't used to getting genuine praise from one of his enemies.

"Yes. By all means, he should have succeeded in controlling you. After all, that energy was used to place two Zygarde under his control: two legendary Pokemon. It takes a lot of power to be able to overcome a legendary Pokemon's strength, much less _two_ legendary Pokemon. And yet you, a mere boy of sixteen years, were able to defy this incredibly powerful energy." His smile widened. "Though I despise the way you and Sonic always foil my plans, I cannot deny that you, Ash Ketchum, are a remarkable human being with incredible capabilities."

Ash was so astonished, he couldn't help but mirror the doctor's grin. "You know," he said, "I never expected one of my greatest enemies to give me so sincere a compliment. I guess there's only one thing I can say."

"And what's that?"

He adjusted his hat slightly before looking back at him. "Thank you, Dr. Eggman."

Now it was Eggman's turn to be surprised. "Doctor?" he repeated. "You never call me that. None of you do!"

"Well, that's usually because we're thwarting one of your schemes," Ash chuckled. "We don't have time to respect you then. But right now, there's no enmity between us: only mutual respect."

Eggman's surprise faded, and another sincere smile found its way onto his face. "You're right," he nodded solemnly, then looked back at the sunrise. "Even though I'll be going back to my usual routine soon, I won't deny that finding time to share mutual respect for my enemies every now and again is an experience I do enjoy."

"Same here," Ash nodded, mirroring him as he looked to the sunrise. Then his smile faded as another question entered his mind. "Hey, Eggman?" he said.

"Hm?"

"What if you'd known what Lysandre was really planning? Would you have joined him then?"

Eggman's smile faded, and he shook his head. "No."

"Why not?" Ash asked, slightly surprised. "I mean, you do want to conquer the world, don't you? That was kinda Lysandre's goal, too. So what –?"

"No, Ash," Eggman interrupted him. "Lysandre may have wanted to make a better world, but his methods for doing so were unforgivable."

"Unforgivable?" Ash repeated, surprised once again.

"Once, before all this happened, Lysandre approached me again with a job offer. Naturally, I refused, still believing that lie about him. We did, however, have a small discussion on our ideals for making the world a better place. I, naturally, wanted to conquer it. He, however, had a different idea: he believed all living things were corrupt, and that the only way to make this world beautiful again was to end corruption." He shivered as he continued. "He asked me, framing it as a hypothetical question, if erasing all life on the planet would be a suitable solution to this problem. I was swift to reject his idea: to destroy innocent life is not my policy. Enslave? That's fine. Use them as power for my robots? Fine. But to destroy everything to create something new? That's unforgivable."

Ash blinked, astonished for the umpteenth time at the doctor's words of wisdom. "Unforgivable," he whispered. "That's a strong word." He looked back at where the Megalith had been some time earlier before it was destroyed, along with its maker. "But if there really couldn't be any forgiveness for his actions, then I guess he paid the price for them."

"Yes," Eggman nodded. "You can rest assured that though I will always seek to conquer the world, I will never stoop as low as Lysandre did."

"I'd expect nothing less from you," Ash winked. They chuckled and looked back at the sunrise again. It was quiet for a moment.

"So what are you planning to do next?" Eggman asked, breaking the silence.

Ash blinked. "To be honest, I don't know. Now that the Lumiose Conference is over, I guess I'll go back home for a bit. Then I guess I'll figure it out from there. What about you?"

"Oh, you know me," Eggman chuckled lightheartedly. "After today, it's back to the usual: conquering the world. I was working on my latest plan when all this happened, so I put it on hold. Now that everything's back to normal, I can start working on it again."

"I see," Ash nodded. Even though Eggman was talking about an evil scheme, the teenager couldn't help but smile. He pumped his fist with a determined expression, though he was still smiling his sincere smile. "Well, when you put your plans into action, you can count on us to be there to stop you."

"I look forward to it," the doctor grinned happily, turning to face him. He sported one of his typical evil grins now. "Though I must warn you, this new scheme I'm concocting is very sophisticated. You'd have to be very smart to stop it. Perhaps you should go to school to learn a thing or two."

"School?!" Ash exclaimed, losing his composure for the first time since they started talking. "What're you talking about?! I'm a trainer! I don't go to school!"

"Oh, relax," Eggman chortled heartily, dropping the sinister vibe. "I was just joking! Besides, it's practically absurd: Ash Ketchum, Hero of Kalos and of the world at large, a student?! Pah! It's as likely as Cloud Strife getting into Super Smash Bros!"

"You said it," he laughed with him. Together, Ash and Dr. Eggman laughed until their sides hurt. When their chuckles subsided, they looked back at the sunrise once again.

"Well," Eggman sighed, "I guess it's time for me to go."

"Yeah," Ash sighed likewise. They turned to each other, and Ash smiled. "Thanks again for your help in stopping Team Flare. I don't think we could've done it without you."

Eggman returned his smile. "You're welcome," he said. "And even though the next time we meet will be on much less friendly terms, always remember this: Ash Ketchum, you truly are one of a kind."

"Thanks, Doctor," Ash replied. With that, he extended his hand. Eggman took it respectfully, and they shared a handshake of mutual respect.

"Farewell, Ash Ketchum," he said, turning away. "I look forward to our next encounter."

"Farewell, Dr. Eggman," Ash replied. "You better have those snacks ready for us when we come to stop you."

"Oh, don't worry," Eggman chortled as he walked away. "I've got a whole stash of leftover chili dogs in my fridge. I'll have them ready to eat when you arrive."

"They better not be stale!" Ash called after him, still with his sincere grin. They laughed at that, and then it was quiet again. The young trainer simply stood there and watched as the doctor walked away.

"Hey, Baseball Head!"

"Huh?!" Ash exclaimed, startled after being wrapped up in conversation with Eggman for so long.

"What were you and the Egghead talking about?" Sonic asked.

"Uh," he said, then shrugged. "We were just talking about our whole adventure here, that's all."

"Heh!" Sonic smirked. "Must've been a pretty shallow conversation, then. After all, you can only talk about so many things with a guy like him!" With that, the blue hedgehog walked away. Ash turned back to where Eggman was and saw that he was gone.

"You have no idea, Sonic," he smiled to himself. "There's a lot more to that man than meets the eye."

At that moment, he saw something floating in the sky. He blinked in surprise, but on closer inspection, he recognized it as the Egg-Mobile, with its usual pilot at the helm. Although he was far away, Ash could still make out a sincere smile on Eggman's face as their eyes met one last time. He returned the smile. Then the Egg-Mobile turned and floated away into the distance. Ash stood there watching it until it disappeared over the horizon.

And when it was gone, he was still smiling.

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 **What did you think? I probably could have written it a little better, but I'm satisfied with the result. Feel free to rate and review, but no flames, please!**

 **Now for a brief update on Sonic-Pokemon Global Adventure: The Dark Crisis, since I don't post updates in the story itself. The story is entering its final stage of development, which is usually the stage that's the most fleshed-out when I write a story. I can't wait to share what I have in store; it's going to be EPIIIIIC! Well at least I think so.**

 **Okay, that's all. Thanks for reading, and I'll catch ya later!**

 **Oh, and this is my 30th story I've posted to fanfiction! Woo!**


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